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Marla and Rondeau sat on a low concrete wall that marked the edge of a strip-mall
parking lot. “So after we get one of those frog-eating snakes, what then?” Rondeau said.
“We find Mutex, and I rip his extremities off until I get the Cornerstone back.”
“And how do we find Mutex?”
“Have you ever heard of that band ‘…And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Dead’?”
“Ah,” Rondeau said. “Got it. We follow the bodies.”
“Maybe,” Marla said. “That’s the worst-case scenario. There’s a small chance that we
might be able to find a shortcut.” That small chance was B, if he turned out to be what
Marla barely dared hope he was.
“All hail the great god Shortcut,” Rondeau said, a little glumly.
“Say hallelujah,” Marla agreed.
10
B returned with the garter snake, a long, dark green curl of life in a small white
cardboard box. “You’re not going to sacrifice this or anything, are you?” B said, as
Marla peered into the box.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “I can’t imagine that sacrificing eight inches of snake would
get me much in the way of favors anyway.” She cleared her throat, put her face close to
the box, and said, “Ch’ang Hao, this is Marla. I need to call in that favor now.” She
lifted her face away, and they all watched the snake, which lifted its head up above the
sides of the box and swayed a little.
“Ah,” Rondeau said. “So what now?”
“Apparently nothing instantaneous,” Marla said.
The snake crawled over the edge of the box, flowing like living green water, and fell the
short distance to the ground, where it continued slithering away, roughly westward.
“Think the little snake’s going to deliver the message in person?” Rondeau said.
“Anything’s possible.” Marla sighed. “I’m not good at being patient. I say we head back
into the city, grab some food, and see what else we can find out about Mutex. I wish I
knew where to find the other sorcerers in this city. If Mutex really did go around
accosting all the big noises in the city, maybe he let something useful slip to one of
them.”